Post Easter Split Pea Soup

One of the things I miss about living at my parents house is soup after holiday dinners. At Christmas I'm usually home long enough to get in on the turkey soup, however I haven't had my mom's split pea soup in years. This year I decided to try and make my own. As I sometimes do I looked through a few different cookbooks and online recipes and came away with the basic idea, and went from there. The key for me was having saved the bone from the ham I roasted for Easter dinner, and using that to make the stock.

To make stock:
Place ham bone and some scraps into large stock pot. Add 12 cups of water, and 2 bay leaves. Bring to boil, reduce heat and simmer for about 1 1/2 - 2 hours. Strain using a fine sieve.

Split Pea Soup
- 1 tbsp butter
- 1 onion, finely chopped
- 3 carrots, finely chopped
- 3 stalks of celery, finely chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 10 cups stock
- 2 cups dried split peas
- 2-3 sprigs fresh thyme
- 1 cup frozen peas
- 1 1/2 - 2 cups leftover ham

In large saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Sautee onion, carrots, celery and garlic, until tender, about 4 minutes. Add stock, dried peas and thyme. Bring to boil, lower heat, cover, and simmer until peas are cooked, about 1 hour.

Add frozen peas and ham, heat through and serve.